Recent Posts

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Publisher's Office [Public] / Publishing delay with Amazon ebooks
« Last post by alhawke on Today at 08:10:13 AM »
Anyone noticing this? Usually I put a new book up and, even during review, an ASIN pops up within a few hours. My newest book is just dragging x48 hrs as "pre-order in review". It's a preorder--not sure if that's the reason? Tomorrow I'll message them as it'll hit their 72hr mark. I've seen delays like this with paperbacks before but not my ebooks.
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: How do you guys use KDP Select free days?
« Last post by Bill Hiatt on October 01, 2024, 10:51:30 PM »
This is just an off-the-cuff response.

The title of the book makes me think satire, an impression reinforced by the product description. The sample also seems to lean in that direction.

On the other hand, the categories (military thriller, war fiction, war and military action fiction) don't fit that impression at all. (Though I have to say, it's doing well in the existing cats on the free list, even if the downloads weren't particularly numerous.)

All of those fiction types could conceivably include a more introspective element, but that wouldn't typically be the focus for thriller or action genres.

The book has gotten good reviews, so some of the intended audience clearly found it, but I imagine a lot of people looking for thrills and action would have landed there and had a WTF moment.
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: How do you guys use KDP Select free days?
« Last post by Hopscotch on October 01, 2024, 10:23:50 PM »
Can't make KDP free days work as they used to & appreciate some advice.  A few free days used to yield several 1,000 grabs w/gratifying follow-on sales in a series.  Not now.  Decided to fire up all 5 free days this wk in one big blast to test what happens and it's peanuts.  Book is This Way to the Combat Zone (below) in a war series and I wonder if the sales page / cats / cover hold it back even as a freebie?  Or must I do the naked moon dance again?
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: Should I make a Series series
« Last post by alhawke on September 26, 2024, 06:27:30 AM »
Interesting... so I could be seeing a leftover from that restriction. Thanks!
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Re: Should I make a Series series
« Last post by Lynn on September 26, 2024, 06:08:18 AM »
I've done this in the past and at retailers that still don't allow you to attach content to an existing series. But once Amazon did allow you to put content connected to a series I stopped. Google Play also allows you to put bundles and things as connected to a series.
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Marketing Loft [Public] / Should I make a Series series
« Last post by alhawke on September 26, 2024, 12:52:03 AM »
The extra "series" is not a typo. I have two boxed sets (1-3 & 4-6) for my witch series now. I'm publishing my 4-6 set now. I've been roaming around Amazon and other retailers and I'm seeing many writers grouping boxed sets together under a separate series from their main book series. The disadvantage is that this separates the compilation out from the individual books and I have some short stories in the main series link. The advantage is that it groups my two boxed sets together. Should I make a series of the boxed set series books? Anyone done this? Thoughts?
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Formatter's Forge [Public] / Re: Introducing Matthew's Ebook Creator (Preview)!
« Last post by Bill Hiatt on September 25, 2024, 06:14:01 AM »
Quote from: Post-Crisis D on September 25, 2024, 12:36:28 AM
Quote from: Bill Hiatt on September 24, 2024, 11:38:04 PM
I can see more of an argument for fancy stuff in print editions. Even then, I doubt that's why most readers buy a book. The exception would be Kickstarters where the whole point is to have something fancy than normal, something limited edition and special.

What do you consider "fancy stuff"?
Anything much beyond, clear, easily readable text that follows the normal publishing conventions. I'm not that much of an enthusiast for things like images at the beginning of each chapter, ornate scene breaks, that sort of thing. Even drop caps look odd to me (and don't work well on some ereaders, anyway).

Don't get me wrong. I have no quarrel with authors who like a more decorative interior, especially for print. But for the most part, with the exception I already noted, I don't think that's really what sells books. As long as they look professional, that's enough for me.
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Formatter's Forge [Public] / Re: Introducing Matthew's Ebook Creator (Preview)!
« Last post by Post-Crisis D on September 25, 2024, 12:36:28 AM »
Quote from: Bill Hiatt on September 24, 2024, 11:38:04 PM
I can see more of an argument for fancy stuff in print editions. Even then, I doubt that's why most readers buy a book. The exception would be Kickstarters where the whole point is to have something fancy than normal, something limited edition and special.

What do you consider "fancy stuff"?
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Formatter's Forge [Public] / Re: Introducing Matthew's Ebook Creator (Preview)!
« Last post by Bill Hiatt on September 24, 2024, 11:38:04 PM »
I'm less concerned about ebook formatting, though I do use one of the Vellum templates. The fact that readers can control the text size--which they should be able to do--limits the usefulness of a lot of other features.

I can see more of an argument for fancy stuff in print editions. Even then, I doubt that's why most readers buy a book. The exception would be Kickstarters where the whole point is to have something fancy than normal, something limited edition and special.
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Formatter's Forge [Public] / Re: Introducing Matthew's Ebook Creator (Preview)!
« Last post by She-la-te-da on September 24, 2024, 08:29:57 PM »
I'll just keep using Scrivener. I ignore most of the stuff in it, I like plain, simple ebooks, and the same with print. I see no need to have fancy separators, drop caps or any of that. Having too many images in ebooks increases delivery fees.

The older I get, and the more Covid seems to affect my brain, anything distracting makes me stop reading. And since a lot of people read on phones, even with the bigger screens, too much stuff turns into unreadable text.
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